Ellen Page Reveals Depression, Panic Attacks Before Coming Out

By Brent Furdyk. Published: 14 Feb 2016 4:35 PM

Ellen Page has spoken numerous times about how much happier she is now that she’s come out of the closest as a gay woman, but in a new interview reveals just how bad things were when she was still inside.

In a new interview with Elle, reports Pink News, she admits: “I’d get panic attacks and sense an incredible discomfort because I didn’t relate to the conformity that comes with my gender [such as wearing feminine dresses on shoots].

“I was doing something I love and also wondering, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ You hate yourself for feeling bad, so you pretend you’re happy.

“I’d ask myself, ‘Can’t you just flip a switch, be a character, play the game?'”

Since coming out in 2014, Page says he’s much more relaxed.

“I do interviews [now] with a sense of, ‘Oh, this is what it’s like’. A photo shoot used to only represent discomfort, I felt guilty for lying. Fashion once meant dresses and heels, and I didn’t know why I’d want to be dressed that way.”